Communications system

ABSTRACT

A user communications device having active and idle states operates in a cellular communications network in which user communications devices communicate via network communications devices of cells of the network. History data identifying the cells in which the user communications device has been present whilst in the idle state is maintained. This history data is used by the user communications device or by a network communications device to enable adjustment of cell selection/reselection parameters for the user communications device in the active state.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to mobile telecommunications networks,particularly but not exclusively networks operating according to the3GPP standards or equivalents or derivatives thereof.

BACKGROUND ART

Mobile telecommunications networks enable users of User Equipment (UE)to communicate with other such users via one of a number of basestations (eNodeB, eNB) and a core network 7. Each base station defines anumber of cells of the network. In an active state a UE is registeredwith the network and has an RRC (Radio Resource Control) with a basestation so that the network knows which cell the UE belongs to and cantransmit data to and receive data from the UE. In LTE, in the Activestate, the Handover procedure allows UEs to have service continuitywhile moving within the Intra LTE system (Intra and Inter Frequency) andtowards other RATS (Radio Access Technologies). A UE at or near a borderregion between cells may move back and forth (“ping pong”) between cellsand may as a consequence generate an excessive number of requests forreconnection to different base stations.

A UE also has a power conservation or idle state in which, typically,the UE is not transmitting or receiving data and no context about the UEis stored by the base station. In the idle state the location of the UEis known only (to the MME (Mobility Management Entity) in 3GPP) at thegranularity of a Tracking Area (TA) comprising a cluster or group ofbase station cells.

When in the idle state, a UE selects and reselects cells according tothe parameters broadcasted in the BCH (Broadcast Channel) and the basestation is not aware of the cell selections/reselections made by the UE.

A wrong setting of the cell selection/reselection parameters may causethe UE to ping pong between the cells which may be harmful in terms ofboth signalling, processing and resource utilization.

For example, if the cell selection/reselection parameters are notproperly set, then a Handover procedure may be performed as soon as theUE enters the Active state. A Tracking Area Update may also be performedif the UE is at Tracking Area border and the new Tracking Area is not inthe list of TAs the UE is registered with.

Furthermore, ping-pong in idle state or mode may cause:

-   -   Paging messages to be lost during cell reselections, especially        for inter-freq/inter-RAT cell selection/reselection    -   Higher battery consumption in the UE because of repeated        inter-freq/inter-RAT measurements    -   Service interruption if the ping-pong results in a cell        selection procedure being performed.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

According to one aspect, the present invention provides a methodperformed by a user communications device of a cellular communicationsnetwork in which user communications devices communicate via networkcommunications devices of cells of the network, the method comprisingthe user communications device: maintaining history data relating to thelocation (cell and/or tracking area) of the cellular communicationsnetwork in the idle state; and providing data relating to the historydata to a network communications device.

The history data may identify the last n cells in which the usercommunications device has been present (camped in), where n may be, forexample, five. The history data may identify the time for which the usercommunications device was present in each cell.

The history data may be used to detect at least one of ping pong betweencells and ping pong between tracking areas (TAs).

The user communications device may provide the history data to a networkcommunications device at any appropriate time, for example at at leastone of:

entry into the active state, for example in the RRC Initial DirectTransfer or in any other RRC messages involved in the idle to Activetransition procedure in response to detection of ping pong between cellsand/or or TAs.

The user communications device may check whether the tracking area ofthe cell in which it is present is different from the tracking area ofthe last cell in which it was present, before providing the cell historydata, if the purpose is to identify ping pong only between trackingareas and may provide the history data to a network communicationsdevice only if the tracking areas are different, thereby enabling pingpong between TAs to be addressed by adjustment of cellselection/reselection parameters.

The user communications device may check whether it is in a highmobility state (which may arise if, for example, the user is in a movingvehicle) before providing the cell history data and may only send thehistory data if it is not a high mobility state, thereby enablingdifferentiation between ping pong due to incorrect setting of cellselection/reselection parameters and ping pong caused by high mobilityof the user communications device.

As another possibility or additionally, in the active state the usercommunications device may provide the cell history data in response to arequest from a network communications device. This enables the networkcommunications device to control the amount of signalling needed and theamount of data collected.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method performed by a networkcommunications device of a cellular communications network in which usercommunications devices communicate via network communications devices ofcells of the network, the method comprising the network communicationsdevice receiving from a user communications device cell data relating tohistory data relating to the location of the cellular communicationsnetwork in the idle mode. This enables the cell selection/reselectionparameters provided to the affected cells in the BCH to be checked andadjusted if necessary to reduce the possibility of ping pong between atleast one of cells and TAs.

In an embodiment, a user communications device having active and idlestates operates in a cellular communications network in which usercommunications devices communicate via network communications devices ofcells of the network. History data identifying the cells and TAs inwhich the user communications device has been present whilst in the idlestate is maintained. This history data is used by the usercommunications device or by a network communications device to enableadjustment of cell selection/reselection parameters in the affectedcells.

The user communications device may initiate provision of the datarelating to the history data, in which case the user communicationsdevice may provide the actual history data or data indicating theexistence of ping pong between cells and/or TAs. As another possibility,the network communications device may request a user communicationsdevice to provide its history data as, for example, a response to theCommunication Network Request message.

The present invention may be applied to, for example:

-   -   Intra LTE Infra Frequency cell selection/reselection    -   Intra LTE Inter Frequency cell selection/reselection    -   Inter system cell selection/reselection

The invention also provides, for all methods disclosed, correspondingcomputer programs or computer program products for execution oncorresponding user communications devices or network communicationsdevices. The invention also provides user communications devices andnetwork communications devices configured or operable to implement themethods and components thereof and methods of updating these.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example,with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a cellular telecommunications system towhich embodiments of the invention may be applied;

FIG. 2 illustrates very diagrammatically the relationship between cellsand tracking areas of a cellular telecommunications system;

FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram to show some of thefunctionality of a user communications device;

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram to show some of thefunctionality of a network communications device;

FIG. 5 shows a diagram to illustrate a first example of a methodembodying the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a diagram to illustrate a second example of a methodembodying the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a diagram to illustrate a third example of a methodembodying the invention;

FIG. 8A shows a diagram to illustrate option 1 in which the presentinventions may be implemented in the currently proposed 3GPP LTEstandard;

FIG. 8B shows a diagram to illustrate option 2 in which the presentinventions may be implemented in the currently proposed 3GPP LTEstandard; and

FIG. 8C shows a diagram to illustrate option 3 in which the presentinventions may be implemented in the currently proposed 3GPP LTEstandard.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Overview

With reference to the drawings in general, it should be understood thatany functional block diagrams are intended simply to show thefunctionality that exists within the device and should not be taken toimply that each block shown in the functional block diagram isnecessarily a discrete or separate entity. The functionality provided bya block may be discrete or may be dispersed throughout the device orthroughout a part of the device. In addition, the functionality mayincorporate, where appropriate, hardwired elements, software elements orfirmware elements or any combination of these.

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a mobile (cellular) telecommunicationssystem 1 in which a user of a user communications device (User Equipment(UE)) 3 in the form of a mobile (cellular) telephone or other mobiledevice capable of communicating over a mobile telecommunications networkcan communicate with other users (not shown) via one of a number ofnetwork communications devices, referred to herein in as base stationsor nodes (eNodeB or eNB, in the example of E_UTRAN) 5 and a core network7. For simplicity in the diagram only three UEs 3-0, 3-1 and 3-2 and twobase stations 5-1 and 5-2 are shown, although it will be appreciatedthat the system will generally have many more.

The mobile (cellular) telecommunications system 1 may operate accordingto the 3GPP standards or equivalents or derivatives thereof or any otherappropriate cellular telecommunications standard or standards.

Each base station defines a number of cells of the network and the cellsare separated into groups or clusters known as tracking areas (TAs).FIG. 2 shows, very diagrammatically, two tracking areas TA1 and TA2 pluspart of another tracking area TA3, each formed of cells C, with, as anexample, cells Cy and Cx being in tracking area TA2. It will beappreciated that the cells and tracking areas may not have the shapesshown in FIG. 2 and that adjacent cells and/or tracking areas may or maynot overlap.

UEs of such a mobile (cellular) telecommunications system have activeand idle modes or states. In the active state a UE is registered withthe network and has an RRC (Radio Resource Control) with a base stationso that the network knows which cell the UE belongs to and can transmitdata to and receive data from the UE. In LTE, a handover procedureallows UEs to have service continuity while moving within the Intra LTEsystem (Intra and Inter Frequency) and towards other RATS (Radio AccessTechnologies).

The idle state is a power conservation idle state in which, typically,the UE is not transmitting or receiving data and no context about the UEis stored by the base station. Rather, in the idle state the location ofthe UE is known only to functionality of the core network, for exampleto the MME (Mobility Management Entity) in 3GPP, and only at theresolution or granularity of a Tracking Area (for example TA1, TA2, orTA3 in FIG. 2).

When in the idle state, a UE selects and reselects cells according tothe parameters broadcasted in the BCH (Broadcast Channel) and may alsoperform a tracking area update if it is at tracking area border and thetracking area into which it is moving is not in the list of TAs the UEis registered with.

A UE embodying the invention is configured to maintain history datarelating to the cells and TAs of the cellular communications network inwhich it has been present (camped) while in the idle mode or state andto provide data related to such history data to a network communicationsdevice in order to enable a determination to be made as to whether anyadjustment of its cell selection/reselection parameters is required toavoid or at least reduce the possibility of ping pong between cellsand/or TAs.

UE

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of a UE 3 shown in FIG. 1. Asshown, the UE 3 has a transceiver circuit 21 that is operable totransmit signals to and to receive signals from a base station 5 via oneor more antenna 23. The UE 3 has a controller 27 to control theoperation of the UE 3 and a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module). Thecontroller 27 is associated with a memory 29 and is coupled to thetransceiver circuit 21 and to a user interface 28 having a loudspeaker28 a, a microphone 28 b, a display 28 c, and a keypad 28 d. Although notnecessarily shown in FIG. 3, the UE will of course have all the usualfunctionality of a cellular telephone and this may be provided by anyone or any combination of hardware, software and firmware, asappropriate. Software may be pre-installed in the memory and/or may bedownloaded via the telecommunications network or from a removable datastorage device (RMD) 23, for example.

The controller 27 is configured to control overall operation of the UEby, in this example, program instructions or software instructionsstored within memory 29. As shown, these software instructions include,among other things, an operating system 31, a cell selector/reselector33 to enable selection and reselection of cells in accordance with cellselection/reselection parameters provided by the BCH, and a reporter 34to report to a base station data relating to the cells within which theUE has been camped or present while in the idle state. The memory 29also provides a data store 32 associated with the reporter 34 to storecell history data 32 a identifying the last n cells Cy to Cy-n withinwhich the UE has been camped or present while in the idle state, theTracking Area of those cells and the time ty to ty-n for which the UEwas present in each of those cells. The data store 32 may be configuredto store data for the last 5 cells, although the data store 32 may storedata for fewer or more cells. The UE also has a checker 35 to check fora high mobility state and to check the TA status. It will of course beappreciated that, particularly where ping pong is occurring, the samecell and/or the same TA may be present more than once in the storedhistory data.

Base Station

FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of a base station 5 shown inFIG. 1. As shown, the base station 3 has a transceiver circuit 41 totransmit signals to and to receive signals from the UEs 3 via one ormore antenna 43, a network interface 44 to transmit signals to andreceive signals from the core network 7 and a base station interface 45to transmit signals to and to receive signals from other base stations5. The base station 5 has a controller 47 to control the operation ofthe base station. The controller 47 is associated with a memory 49.Although not necessarily shown in FIG. 4, the base station will ofcourse have all the usual functionality of a cellular telephone networkbase station and this may be provided by any one or any combination ofhardware, software and firmware, as appropriate. Software may bepre-installed in the memory and/or may be downloaded via thetelecommunications network or from a removable data storage device(RMD), for example.

The controller 47 is configured to control overall operation of the basestation by, in this example, program instructions or softwareinstructions stored within memory 49. As shown, these softwareinstructions include, among other things, an operating system 51, a cellselection/reselection parameter controller 53 to enable the parametersby which a UE selects/reselects a cell to be adjusted and a history datareceiver 52 to receive data relating to history data provided by areporter 34 of a UE.

In the above description, the base station 5 and the UEs 3 are describedfor ease of understanding as having a number of discrete functionalcomponents or modules (such as the history data receiver, cell selectionparameter controller, cell selector, reporter, data store). Whilst thesemodules may be provided in this way for certain applications, forexample where an existing system has been modified to implement theinvention, in other applications, for example in systems designed withthe inventive features in mind from the outset, these modules may bebuilt into the overall operating system or code and so these modules maynot be discernible as discrete entities.

In operation of the system described above, when in idle or inactivestate, the cell selector 33 of a UE selects and reselects cellsaccording to the parameters broadcasted in the BCH (Broadcast Channel).

Each time the UE reselects a cell, the reporter 34 updates the cellhistory data 32 a to add the new cell as the nth cell, logs the time atwhich the UE switched to that cell and stores the total time for whichthe UE was in the previous cell. The TA of the reselected cell may alsobe added as shown in FIG. 3.

If the cell history data already has n entries, then the reporter 34removes the oldest entry so that the cell UE maintains a list of thelast n cells in which it was camped and the time for which it was campedin each of those cells. The same cell may of course appear more thanonce in the list.

The reporter may store and so report RAT information and frequencyinformation together with cell identification data and time.

The UE reports data relating to the history data to the base station ofthe cell in which it is next in the active state. The reporter 34 of theUE may, for example, report the actual history data to a base stationthe next time it enters the active state or sometime whilst it is in theactive state. As another possibility, to reduce the data traffic andsignalling, the reporter 34 may check the history data to determine, inaccordance with a ping pong detection algorithm, whether or not pingpong is present in the history data and only report when ping pong isdetected. In this case, the reporter 34 may report to a base station thenext time it enters the active state the actual history data (so thatthe base station can make its own identification of ping pong) or thefact that ping pong has occurred and the identity of the cells and/orTAs involved in the ping pong. As an example, a UE may determine thatping pong is occurring if the entries in the cell history alternatebetween two cells (and optionally TAs whenever the cells affected byping-pong belongs to different TAs) within a predetermined time period.The reporter of the UE may, before reporting history data to a basestation, check whether or not the UE is in a high mobility state (thatis the UE is moving very quickly, for example the user is travelling ina vehicle) and, if so, may decide not to report the history data. Asanother possibility or additionally, a base station may request historydata when a UE is already in the active state.

Upon receipt of the data relating to the history data (the actualhistory data or ping pong detection data) by the history data receiver52 of a base station, the cell selection parameter controller 53determines whether or not adjustment needs to be made to the cellselection parameters provided to the UE in the BCH. Other measurementfrom other UES may be taken into account for that purpose. Where thereceived data is the actual history data, the bases station uses a pingpong detection algorithm to determine whether ping pong has occurred.For example, if the received data indicates that ping pong is occurring,then the base station cell selection parameter controller 53 will causethe cell selection parameters in the BCH for that UE to be altered. Thismay be done by alerting the operator who can then change the cellselection parameters manually via the Operations and Management (O&M)system. As another possibility, the cell selection parameters may bechanged automatically in accordance with an algorithm which may beimplementation specific.

The base station generally provides the cell selection/reselectionparameter data in the BCH for its cell rather than for a specific UE sothat any UE in that cell will receive the same cellselection/reselection parameter data. The base station may considerhistory or other data from other UEs in the same cell when providing thecell selection/reselection parameter data.

The embodiments described above enable a network to detect cases offrequent idle mode or state cell selection/reselection betweenneighbouring cells so that this can be corrected. This may be carriedout during any cell selection/reselection process the cell selector maycarry out, for example: Intra LTE Intra Frequency cellselection/reselection; Intra LTE Inter Frequency cellselection/reselection; Inter system cell selection/reselection.

In the case of intra LTE intra frequency cell selection/reselection, theUE, while moving, will reselect a new cell on the base of the cellreselection criteria broadcast in the BCH channel. The data reportingdescribed above enables the cell selection reselection parameters to beadjusted so that they are properly set, may avoid a handover procedurebeing performed as soon as the UE enters the Active state and may alsoavoid the performing of a Tracking Area Update if the UE is at a borderregion between tracking areas and the tracking area into which it ismoving does not belong to the list of TAs the UE is registered with. Inaddition the adjustment of the cell selection/reselection parametersalso improves both UE and Network performances in terms of UE batteryconsumption and paging failure rate.

In the case of intra LTE inter frequency cell selection/reselection, theUE, while in the idle state, makes measurement on Inter-frequency cellsaccording to the inter-frequency cell reselection criteria broadcastedin BCH. Cell selection/reselection parameters for inter-frequency cellreselection are set in order to address signalling, processing andresource optimization. In addition the adjustment of the cellselection/reselection parameters also improves both UE and Networkperformances in terms of UE battery consumption and paging failure rate.The data reporting described above enables the cell selectionreselection parameters to be adjusted so that they are properly set andmay, when two inter-frequency cells overlap, avoid inter-frequencymeasurement and possible GAP activation being required upon detection ofbad frequency quality by the UE (as soon as it enters the Active state)which could otherwise trigger Inter-frequency Handover and also aTracking area update, if the UE is at Tracking Area border and the newTracking area does not belong to the list of TAs the UE is registeredwith. The history data reporting described above also enables setting ofthe cell selection/reselection parameters to mirror the Operatorstrategy which may want most of the UEs accessing the network from onefrequency so as to reserve other frequencies for other services.

In the case of Inter RAT cell selection/reselection, while in the idlestate, the UE will make measurements on Inter-Rat cells according to theInter-System cell reselection criteria broadcast in the BCH. Cellselection/reselection parameters for inter-RAT cell reselection are setin order to address signalling, processing and resource optimization. Inaddition the adjustment of the cell selection/reselection parametersalso improves both UE and Network performances in terms of UE batteryconsumption and paging failure rate. The data reporting described aboveenables the cell selection reselection parameters to be adjusted so thatthey are properly set and may, when two inter-system cells overlap,avoid the need for Inter-system measurement and possible GAP activationupon detection of bad frequency quality by the UE as soon as the UEenters the Active state, thereby possibly avoiding triggering ofInter-system Handover and also possibly avoid a tracking area update, ifthe UE is at a tracking area/Routing Area border. The history datareporting described above also enables setting of the cellselection/reselection parameters to mirror Operator strategy which maywant most of the UEs accessing the network to use a certain RAT ratherthan another one. In this case, the UE may also report the RAT andfrequency information together with cell id and time.

FIGS. 5 to 7 shows diagrams to illustrate examples of methods embodyingof reporting history data to a base station. In FIGS. 5 to 7 the basestation 5 is represented as having SON functionality 60, CPfunctionality 61 and a parameter controller which controls HO and cellselection parameters and so provides the cell selection parametercontroller 53 of FIG. 4. In FIGS. 5 to 7 CP 61 provides the history datareceiver of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 shows a UE 3 passing through three neighbouring cells C1 to C3 oftwo neighbouring tracking areas TA1 and TA2. In the example shown inFIG. 5, the reporting of the history data is initiated by the UE 3.Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the UE reports the history data (theidentities of the past selected/reselected cells together with the timespent in each cell) when accessing the network and entering the activestate. In the example illustrated, the UE reports the history data tothe CP 61 in the RRC Initial Direct Transfer and any changes required tothe cell selection/reselection parameters to avoid future ping pong areprovided to the UE by the CP in the system information (which comprisescell selection parameters, Qqualmin, Sintrasearch, Sintersearch,SinterRat).

FIG. 6 shows a UE 3 passing between neighbouring cells C1 and C2 of atracking area TA1. The reporting of the history data is again initiatedby the UE 3. However, in this example, the UE is configured to detectping pong in the history data in accordance with parameters sent by thebase station (eNB) in the BCH channel (for example a ping pong timer)and on entering the active state to send a history data report to thebase station identifying the cells concerned if it has detected pingpong between neighbouring cells.

In the UE-initiated examples of FIGS. 5 and 6, depending on the purposeof the ping-pong detection, the reporter of the UE may evaluate someconditions before sending a report to the base station. Thus, if, forexample, the purpose of reporting the cell selection/reselection historyis just to detect ping-pong between TAs, the checker 35 of the UE willcheck whether the TA of the cell in which the UE is camped is differentfrom that of the last cell and only send a report if this is the case.Also, because ping pong may be caused by UE high Mobility (for exampleif the user is in a moving vehicle), the checker 35 of the UE may checkwhether it is in a high mobility state and may only send a report if itis not in a high Mobility condition so avoiding the possibility of cellselection/reselection parameters being adjusted when the ping pong isnot due to the cell selection/reselection parameters.

FIG. 7 again shows a UE 3 passing between neighbouring cells C1 and C2of a tracking area TA1. In this example, however, the history datareporting is initiated by the network. Thus in this example, the UEreports the cell selection/reselection history data whenever requestedby the base station (eNB) when the UE is in the active state (so that itis reachable by the base station). Initiation by the base station hasthe advantage that the base station controls the amount of datacollected and therefore the amount of signalling needed.

Modifications and Alternatives

Detailed embodiments have been described above. As those skilled in theart will appreciate, a number of modifications and alternatives can bemade to the above embodiments whilst still benefiting from theinventions embodied therein. By way of illustration only a number ofthese alternatives and modifications will now be described.

In the above embodiments, the UEs are cellular telephones. Othercommunications nodes or devices may include user devices such as, forexample, personal digital assistants, laptop computers, web browsers,etc.

Although as described above the base station provides the cellselection/reselection parameter data, this data may be provided byanother network device or devices.

The present invention may be implemented in any communications system inwhich communications devices move between different cells or areas.

In the above embodiments, a number of software modules were described.As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the software modules may beprovided in compiled or un-compiled form and may be supplied to the basestation or to the UE as a signal over a computer network, or on arecording medium. Further, the functionality performed by part or all ofthis software may be performed using one or more dedicated hardwarecircuits. However, the use of software modules is preferred as itfacilitates the updating of base station 5 and the UEs 3 in order toupdate their functionalities.

Various other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the artand will not be described in further detail here.

Glossary of 3GPP Terms

-   UE—User Equipment—user communications device-   RAT—Radio Access Technology-   RAN—Radio Access Network-   HO—Handover-   FACH—Forward Access Channel-   eNodeB, eNB—E-UTRAN Node B (evolved NodeB)-   LTE—Long Term Evolution (of UTRAN)-   UTRAN—UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network-   UMTS—Universal Mobile Telecommunications System-   MME—Mobility Management Entity-   TA—Tracking Area-   BCH—Broadcast Channel-   GAP—Generic Access Profile-   CP—Control Plane-   RRC—Radio Resource Control-   SON—Single Operational Node-   RRM—Radio Resource Management-   Qqualmin—minimum required quality level in cell

The following is a detailed description of the way in which the presentinventions may be implemented in the currently proposed 3GPP LTEstandard. Whilst various features are described as being essential ornecessary, this may only be the case for the proposed 3GPP LTE standard,for example due to other requirements imposed by the standard. Thesestatements should not, therefore, be construed as limiting the presentinvention in any way.

Introduction

Current the ping pong detection issue has been analysed and solved forthe UEs in Active Mode. However even for the idle mode UEs, ping pongeffect can create some inefficiency in terms of signalling, processingand resources utilization. Also the ping-pong in idle mode may affectboth UE and Network performance in terms of the UE battery consumptionand the paging failure rate.

-   -   Purpose of this contribution is to discuss a mechanism which        allows the eNB to detect ping pong during the following        scenarios:        -   Intra LTE-Intra frequency cell selection/reselection        -   Intra LTE Inter frequency cell selection/reselection        -   Intersystem cell reselection

Mainly the proposal consists in the UE reporting a list of the pastcells where it was camped on whenever he is trying to connect to thenetwork or it is requested by the eNB to do so.

It is left to the eNB implementation how to use the list of pastselected cells.

Discussion

In LTE, the UE can either be in Active state or in idle state.

When being in Active state, the Handover procedure allows the UEs tohave service continuity while moving within the Infra LTE system (Intraand Inter Frequency) and towards other RATs.

Mechanisms have been discussed and agreed in RAN3 in order to detect theping pong effect when the UE is Active state. It is left to theimplementation how to optimize the HO parameters once the ping pong hasbeen detected.

In idle mode, the UE selects and reselects cells according to theparameters broadcasted in the BCH.

A wrong setting of the cell selection reselection parameters may causethe UE to ping pong between the cells which may be harmful in terms ofboth signalling, processing and resource utilization.

Furthermore, ping-pong in idle mode may cause:

-   -   Paging message to be lost during cell reselections, especially        for inter-freq/inter-RAT case    -   Higher battery consumption in the UE because of repeated        inter-freq/inter-RAT measurements    -   Service interruption if the ping-pong cause a cell selection        procedure to be performed

As a consequence it is important that the network is able to understandwhether these parameters have been set properly.

In UMTS the network has the chance to monitor the cells the UE reselectssince the cell selection/reselection procedure occurs also in connectedmode (e.g. in cell FACH).

In LTE, when being in idle state, the eNB is unaware of the UE pastselected cells and whether any ping pong occurs during cellselection-reselection.

The following paragraphs propose a method to detect the ping pong duringcell reselection. The mechanism applies in the following scenarios:

-   -   Intra LTE Intra Frequency cell selection/reselection    -   Intra LTE Inter Frequency cell selection/reselection    -   Inter system cell selection/reselection        4.1. Intra LTE Intra Frequency Cell Selection/Reselection

When the UE is in idle mode, the UE location is known at a Tracking Areagranularity level. The UE, while moving, will reselect a new cell on thebase of the cell reselection criteria broadcasted in the BCH channel.

If the cell selection/reselection parameters are not properly set, itmay happen that a Handover procedure is performed as soon as the UEenters Active state. In addition a Tracking Area Update may be performedas well if the UE is at Tracking Area border and the new Tracking areadoes not belong to the list of TAs the UE is registered with.

Other performance issues as reported in the previous section may alsooccur. The proposal mainly consist on UEs keeping track of say last xcells it has camped on together with the time spent in each cell.

The UE will then send this list to the eNB either when entering Activestate (UE Initiated) or when requested by the eNB (eNB Initiated).

4.2. Intra LTE Inter Frequency Cell Selection/Reselection

While the UE is in idle mode, it will make measurement onInter-frequency cells according to the inter-frequency cell reselectioncriteria broadcasted in BCH.

Cell selection/reselection parameters for inter-frequency cellreselection are set in order to address signalling, processing andresource optimization. If for example, the parameters are not properlyset when two inter-frequency cells overlap, it may happen thatInter-frequency measurement and possible GAP activation are needed upondetection of bad frequency quality by the UE when entering Active state.

As a consequence, Inter-frequency Handover may be triggered togetherwith a Tracking area update if the UE is at Tracking Area border and thenew Tracking area does not belong to the list of TAs the UE isregistered with.

Furthermore the setting of the cell selection/reselection parameters hasto mirror the Operator strategy which may want most of the UE accessingthe network from one frequency and reserve other frequencies for otherservices.

In addition, if the ping pong occurs, other performance issues asreported in the previous chapter may occur.

In order for the eNB to detect the ping pong during inter-frequency cellreselection, the UE should send the eNB the list of the past selectedcells together with the time spent either when entering Active state (UEInitiated) or when requested by the eNB (Network Initiated).

The UE may also report the frequency information together with cell idand time.

4.3. Inter RAT Cell Selection Reselection

While the UE is in idle mode, it will make measurement on Inter-Ratcells according to the Inter-System cell reselection criteriabroadcasted in BCH.

If for example, the parameters are not properly set when twointer-system cells overlap, it may happen that Inter-system measurementand possible GAP activation are needed upon detection of bad frequencyquality by the UE as soon as the UE enters the Active state.

As a consequence, Inter-system Handover may be triggered together with aTracking area update if the UE is at Tracking Area border and the newTracking area does not belong to the list of TAs the UE is registeredwith.

Furthermore the setting has to mirror the Operator strategy which maywant most of the UE accessing the network using a certain RAT ratherthan another one.

In addition, if the ping pong occurs, other performance issues asreported in the previous chapter may occur.

In order for the eNB to detect the ping pong during the IRAT cellreselection, the UE should send the eNB the list of the past selectedcells together with the time spent either when entering Active state (UEInitiated) or when requested by the eNB (Network Initiated).

The UE may also report the RAT and frequency information together withcell id and time.

4.4. Reporting Method

Two methods of reporting are proposed in this contribution:

-   -   UE Initiated        -   OPTION 1 (FIG. 8A):            -   The UE reports the history of the past                selected/reselected cells together with the time spent                in each cell when accessing the network (e.g. in the RRC                Initial Direct Transfer) and entering the Active State.        -   OPTION 2 (FIG. 8B):            -   The UE sends a report to the eNB as soon as it detects                ping pong between 2 cells            -   The ping pong detection is in line with parameters sent                by the eNB in the BCH channel (e.g. ping pong timer)        -   In both Options, depending on the purpose of the ping-pong            detection, the UE may evaluate some conditions before            sending the Report to the eNB.        -   If for example, the purpose of receiving report of the past            cells selected/reselected is just to detect ping-pong            between TAs, the UE could check that the TA of the cell            which the UE camped on to is different from the last cell.        -   Also it is important to be able to differentiate the ping            pong due to wrong setting of cell selection/reselection            parameters from the ping pong caused by the UE high            Mobility. In order to do that, the UE could check whether he            is in a high mobility state. The report will only be sent if            the check is not verified.    -   Network Initiated:        -   Option 3 (FIG. 8C):            -   The UE reports the history of the cells                selected/reselected together with the time spent in each                cell whenever requested from the eNB. Obviously in this                case the UE has to be in Active state in order to be                reachable by the eNB. The main advantage of this option                is that the eNB controls the amount of data to collects                and therefore the amount of signalling needed.

CONCLUSION

In this contribution we propose a simple mechanism used to detect pingpong effect during Intra LTE cell selection reselection both Intrafrequency and Inter frequency case and Inter RAT cell selectionreselection.

The mechanism consist on UE tracking the last visited cells during idlestate together with the time spent in each cell and informs the eNBeither when entering Active state or when requested by the eNB.

It is proposed to discuss the contribute and agree on the proposedmechanism. NEC is available to prepare the necessary CRs against 36.300.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromUnited Kingdom patent application No. 0802021.6, filed on Feb. 4, 2008,the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety byreference.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a user communicationsdevice having active and idle states in a cellular communicationsnetwork in which user communications devices communicate via networkcommunications devices of cells of the network, the method comprising:in the user communications device: maintaining history data identifyinga location of the user communications device while the usercommunications device is in the idle state, wherein the history datacomprises data relating to at least one of cell selection and cellreselection; and providing data relating to the history data to anetwork communications device when the user communications device is inthe active state, wherein in the active state, the user communicationsdevice includes a radio resource control (RRC) connection.
 2. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the history data includes anidentification of cells in which the user communications device has beenlocated while in the idle state.
 3. A method according to claim 2,wherein the history data includes an identification of the last n cellsin which the user communications device has been located while in theidle state.
 4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the history dataincludes cell identification data and data identifying a time for whichthe user communications device was located in that cell while in theidle state.
 5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the history dataincludes tracking area identity data.
 6. A method according to claim 2,wherein the data relating to at least one of cell selection and cellreselection includes data relating to at least one of intra LTE intrafrequency cell selection and intra LTE frequency cell reselection.
 7. Amethod according to claim 2, wherein the data relating to at least oneof cell selection and cell reselection includes data relating to atleast one of intra LTE inter frequency cell selection and intra LTEinter frequency cell reselection.
 8. A method according to claim 2,wherein the data relating to at least one of cell selection and cellreselection includes data relating to at least one of inter RAT cellselection and inter RAT cell reselection.
 9. A method according to claim2, wherein the history data comprises frequency information.
 10. Amethod according to claim 8, wherein the history data comprises the RATand frequency information.
 11. A method according to claim 1, whereinproviding data is initiated by the user communications device.
 12. Amethod according to claim 11, further comprising initiating, by the usercommunications device, providing of data relating to the history dataupon entry into the active state.
 13. A method according to claim 12,further comprising initiating, by the user communications device,providing of data relating to the history data in an RRC initial directtransfer or any other RRC message involved in idle to Active transition.14. A method according to claim 11, further comprising initiating, bythe user communications device, providing of data relating to thehistory data in response to detection of an indication of ping pongbetween at least one of cells and tracking areas.
 15. A method accordingto claim 14, wherein the data provided by the user communications deviceincludes at least one of data identifying cells and tracking areas forwhich ping pong has occurred.
 16. A method according to claim 15,wherein the data provided by the user communications device alsocomprises time information.
 17. A method according to claim 11, furthercomprising carrying out, by the user communications device, checksbefore the providing the data.
 18. A method according to claim 11,further comprising: determining, by the user communications device,whether the user communications device is in a high mobility statebefore providing the data; and providing, by the user communicationsdevice, the data if it is determined that the user communications deviceis not in a high mobility state.
 19. A method according to claim 11,further comprising checking, by the user communications device, whethera tracking area of a cell in which the user communications device ispresent is different from a tracking area of a last cell in which theuser communications device was present, before providing the data.
 20. Amethod according to claim 19, further comprising providing, by the usercommunications device, the data only if the tracking area of the cell inwhich the user communications device is present is different from thetracking area of the last cell in which the user communications devicewas present.
 21. A method according to claim 1, wherein thecommunications device provides data relating to the history data inresponse to a request from a network communication device.
 22. A methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the usercommunications device, a new set of at least one of cell selectionparameters and cell reselection parameters from a network device inresponse to providing data relating to the history data that isindicative of ping pong between cells.
 23. A method performed by anetwork communications device in a cellular communications network inwhich user communications devices having active and idle statescommunicate via network communications devices of cells of the network,the method comprising: in the network communications device: receiving,from a user communications device in the active state, data relating tohistory data, the history data identifying a location of the usercommunications device while the user communications device is in theidle state and comprising data related to at least one of cell selectionand cell reselection; and providing parameter data for at least one ofcell selection and cell reselection when in the active state, wherein inthe active state, the user communications device includes a radioresource control (RRC) connection.
 24. A method according to claim 23,wherein the network communications device provides the parameter datarelated for at least one of cell selection and cell reselection so thatany of the user communications device in the same cell as the usercommunications device receives the same cell selection/reselectionparameter data.
 25. A method according to claim 23, further comprisinganalyzing, by the network communications device, data from other usercommunications device in a cell for which the the parameter data for atleast one of cell selection and cell reselection are provided.
 26. Amethod according to claim 23, further comprising providing, by thenetwork communications device, modified parameter data for at least oneof cell selection and cell reselection in response to the data relatingto the history data indicative of ping pong between cells or trackingareas.
 27. A method according to claim 23, wherein the history dataincludes an identification of cells in which the user communicationsdevice has been located while in the idle state.
 28. A method accordingto claim 23, further comprising requesting, by the network communicationdevice, a user communications device to provide data relating to thehistory data.
 29. A user communications device having active and idlestates for use in a cellular communications network in which usercommunications devices communicate via network communications devices ofcells of the network, the user communications device comprising: amemory device storing a set of instructions; and one or more processorsconfigured to execute the set of instructions to: maintain history dataidentifying a location of the user communications device while the usercommunications device is in the idle state, wherein the history datacomprises data relating to at least one of cell selection and cellreselection; and provide data relating to the history data to a networkcommunications device when the user communications device is in theactive state, wherein in the active state, the user communicationsdevice includes a radio resource control (RRC) connection.
 30. A deviceaccording to claim 29, wherein the history data includes anidentification of cells in which the user communications device has beenlocated.
 31. A device according to claim 29, wherein the data relatingto at least one of cell selection and cell reselection includes datarelating to at least one of intra LTE intra frequency cell selection andLTE intra frequency cell reselection.
 32. A device according to claim29, wherein the data relating to at least one of cell selection and cellreselection includes data related to at least one of intra LTE interfrequency cell selection and intra LTE inter frequency cell reselection.33. A device according to claim 29, wherein the data relating to atleast one of cell selection and cell reselection includes data relatingto at least one of inter RAT cell selection an inter RAT cellreselection.
 34. A device according to claim 29, wherein the one or moreprocessors are configured to execute the set of instructions to initiateproviding of the data.
 35. A device according to claim 34, wherein theone or more processors are configured to execute the set of instructionsto provide the data upon entry into the active state.
 36. A deviceaccording to claim 34, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the set of instructions to initiate providing ofthe data in response to detection of an indication of ping pong betweenat least one of cells and tracking areas.
 37. A device according toclaim 29, wherein the one or more processors are further configured toexecute the set of instructions to initiate providing of the data inresponse to a request from a network communications device.
 38. A deviceaccording to claim 34, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to execute the set of instructions to carry out checks beforeproviding the data.
 39. A network communications device for use in acellular communications network in which user communications deviceshaving active and idle states communicate via network communicationsdevices of cells of the network, the network communications devicecomprising: a memory device storing a set of instructions; and one ormore processors configured to execute the set of instructions to:receive from a user communications device in the active state datarelating to history data, the history data relating to a location of theuser communications device while the user communications device is inthe idle state; and provide data related to parameters for at least oneof cell selection and cell reselection when in the active state, whereinin the active state, the user communications device includes a radioresource control (RRC) connection.
 40. A network communications devicefor use in a cellular communications network in which usercommunications devices having active and idle states communicate vianetwork communications devices of cells of the network, the networkcommunications device comprising: a memory device that stores a set ofinstructions; and at least one controller configured to execute the setof instructions to: receive from a user communications device in theactive state data relating to history data, the history data relating toa location of the user communications device while the usercommunications device is in the idle state; provide data related toparameters for at least one of cell selection and cell reselection whenin the active state, the parameters being related to information aboutat least one of cell selection and cell reselection included in thehistory data, wherein in the active state, the user communicationsdevice includes a radio resource control (RRC) connection.
 41. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing a program that, whenexecuted by a user communications device having active and idle statesfor use in a cellular communications network in which the usercommunications devices communicate with other user communicationsdevices via network communications devices of cells of the network,causes the user communications device to perform a method, the methodcomprising: maintaining history data identifying a cell location of theuser communications device while the user communications device is inthe idle state, wherein the history data comprises data relating to atleast one of cell selection and cell reselection; and providing datarelating to the history data to a network communications device when theuser communications device is in the active state, wherein in the activestate, the user communications device includes a radio resource control(RRC) connection.
 42. A non-transitory computer readable medium storinga program that, when executed by a network communications device for usein a cellular communications network in which user communicationsdevices having active and idle states communicate via the networkcommunications device, causes the network communications device toperform a method, the method comprising: receiving from a usercommunications device in the active state data relating to history data,the history data relating to a cell location of the user communicationsdevice while the user communications device is in the idle state,wherein the history data comprises data relating to at least one of cellselection and cell reselection; and providing the user communicationsdevice with data related to parameters for at least one of cellselection and cell reselection when in the active state, wherein in theactive state, the user communications device includes a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) connection.
 43. A non-transitory computer readable mediumaccording to claim 42, wherein the program, when executed by the networkcommunications device, causes the network communications device toprovide the user communications device with parameter data, theparameters being related to information about at least one of cellselection and cell reselection included in the history data.
 44. Amethod according to claim 1, wherein the history data comprises timeinformation indicating a time to which said history data relates.
 45. Amethod according to claim 23, wherein the history data comprises timeinformation indicating a time to which said history data relates.
 46. Adevice according to claim 29, wherein the history data comprises timeinformation indicating a time to which said history data relates.
 47. Adevice according to claim 39, wherein the history data comprises timeinformation indicating a time to which said history data relates.